Reception
by halfpipez
Summary: Reception: 1) the way in which a person or group of people reacts to someone or something. 2) A formal social occasion held to welcome someone or to celebrate a particular event: a wedding reception. Skyshipping. Ryoga-centric. Timeskip, 10 years.


He doesn't really think too much about it all after the wedding, because it's not really his thing. His place. His style. His scene.

But it hurts a little. Maybe a little more than that. Maybe a lot more. But the reception is nice and the people catering did a good job and maybe he's spending a little too much time enjoying the mini-pizza slices at the buffet (trust Yuma to get Kotori to agree to something like mini-pizza), which came in cheese, vegetarian (Rio was trying the lifestyle out, and of course Kotori was all too accommodating as usual), and pepperoni - all on different platters with different serving utensils.

So far he'd finished off about half of the cheese one and a good third of the punch bowl (some kind of orange, ginger ale thing with cherries and grapefruit? He figured it didn't hurt to try. And then keep trying).

Rio was dancing. She would be, especially with a dance floor this big and a DJ this decent. If anything, Ryoga kind of just wanted to plug himself in to his new set of headphones - some overly-expensive pair that Yuma got him for Christmas, but he was lying if he said the sound quality wasn't bloody amazing - and ignore the party, but of course standing alone at a reception was antisocial enough without adding gigantic headphones to the look.

Yuma and Kotori were dancing. They looked like a good couple. She was smiling and giggling. Yuma probably just told one of his ultra-lame jokes. He twirled her, people clapped, they fell back into step. Kotori congratulated him on not tripping.

Ryoga couldn't hear squat of the conversation, but they were the predictable type and he knew with just a glance that they were at their usual antics.

A tug on the cuff of his blazer alerted him to his sister. "Hey."

"Let's dance! I love this song and I need to get this one guy off my tail."

"Can't handle him?"

"Hell, I can handle every guy here twice over, but maybe I just want to dance with my brother. So come on, get your sulky ass on the dance floor!"

They kind of just swayed in place. It was an upbeat song, but Rio was happy enough with him just being there and didn't push him to shake his booty - thank god - so all went relatively well. Rio giggled a bit in his ear and told him what Yuma was doing before giving up and turning them both so that Ryoga could see too. It was sweet and adorable and all of the things a newlywed couple consisting of two best friends would be. Yuma was obviously King of the Sappy Gestures. But instead of twirling her and catching her low and kissing her, he just nuzzled their noses and whispered something - _I love you so much_ - and brought her back up to kiss there instead.

"They're so cute, huh? I wish I could find someone who'd treat me like that," Rio whispered longingly in his ear.

"You will someday."

"Man, but I'm older than her! Totally unfair that she got hitched first."

"I guess."

"Shark?"

"Hm?"

"You're upset."

"No I'm not."

Rio just glared at him. "Don't deny you're upset! I knew it. I knew you were wasting away in that corner."

"No I wasn-"

"Shut up, Ryoga." She held a hand over his mouth and glared some more.

He shut up all too obligingly.

"Why?" she finally asked as he hand went smoothly back to his shoulder.

He debated saying something snarky and sarcastic, but he didn't feel up to it. He hadn't even felt up to this wedding, but he had been invited and he couldn't say no to Yuma because that would be like saying no to ice cream on the hottest day of summer.

"It's stupid," he said instead.

"Wanna get some air?"

The corners of his lips rose minutely. "Yes. Yes I do."

The building was quaint and small and it didn't take corridor after corridor to hit the January air and hear the crunch of frost on the grass beneath their feet. Rio gripped his hand because stilettos were no good in grass even if the ground was frozen solid. Another familiar face had had the same idea.

"Kaito."

The blonde brought his gaze down from the stars and turned back to see the twins heading toward him. "Hey. You find it stuffy in there too?"

"Yeah."

Rio was shivering a little, but Ryoga blamed it on her short skirt and lack of a proper jacket - "We're only gonna be walking from the car to the building and back, it's not like we'll be spending any prolonged time out in negative weather and freeze!" - and so he didn't bother lending her his. Kaito turned back to the stars.

"So, was it the giggling or the nuzzling that got to you?"

Ryoga blinked once. Twice. "The sweet nothings."

Rio blinked this time, gaze shifting between the two, understanding dawning on her. "I'm gonna go back inside, okay Shark?" she piped up suddenly.

"Before you get a cold," he mumbled as she maneuvered her way across the field, nearly falling a couple times (gracefully, she'd tell him later).

"So you've got it bad too, huh?" Kaito asked offhandedly. Ryoga didn't answer.

Kaito had always been the older one. The voice of reason. The one who declined invitations to shenanigans because he had no time for all of that. The one who really stuck to his word and never got involved.

"Haven't heard from you in a while. What made you decide to come?"

"Because I need to see someone's happy ending, even if it's not mine." Kaito shoved his hands deep into his winter coat pockets and sighed, a white puff of air dissipating into the stale air. "The ceremony was beautiful."

"He looked good in that suit."

"She looked stunning in that dress."

"So, what are you up to now?"

"Nothing much."

"Me neither."

They had never really talked much in the ten years they'd known each other. It was Yuma or bust with them, and understandably so. He was the piece that pulled them all together into one room without it being filled with a constant stream of snark. But Ryoga wished the silence would just fill itself.

"You shouldn't feel too bad," Kaito said finally. "We never stood a chance."

"I know."

"Still hurts though, right?"

"Of course."

A moment of silent passed before Kaito cursed under his breath and his hands clenched up, knuckles bright red with the chilly breeze. Ryoga looked up at him curiously, but they both said nothing more - he wanted to, but it wasn't his place or his style and he really shouldn't interfere since it was officially game over, off the market, out of service, but hell he never wanted something more and Kaito surely felt the same about it all and just…

"I need a drink."

Kaito nodded. "Too bad that punch has no kick."

"Isn't there a bar somewhere in there?"

"I'm ready to tear the place down just to find it."

"Let's do it."

Turning away from the falling snow and the twinkling stars and the frosted grass, they stared at the building full of everything they never wanted to happen and trudged back in.

* * *

_Wow I don't even know what that ending is. I worked on the part with Ryoga and Kaito for ages trying to get the dialogue right. Did it work? I hope so! Tried to get a different feeling with this, especially the idea of distraction (Ryoga's constant description of other things in unnecessary detail). Also I haven't yet watched any of the episodes with Rio so I hope she got across okay._

_Gah why did I write this?_


End file.
